At least 12 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a school for displaced people in Gaza City, the Hamas-run Civil Defense Authority said.
Rescuers are searching for missing people believed to be trapped under the rubble at the Mustafa Hafez school in the western Rimal area, a spokesman said.
The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas command and control center inside the school and took steps to minimize the risk of harm to civilians.
Earlier, the military announced that they had found the bodies of six Israeli hostages being held in the Khan Younis area.
The men were among 251 people kidnapped by Hamas-led gunmen in the October 7 attack on southern Israel last year, in which about 1,200 people were also killed.
In response, Israel launched an air and ground campaign against Hamas, killing more than 40,170 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
In a video posted on social media showing the immediate aftermath of the attack on Tuesday morning, women and children could be heard screaming and seen running away from the dust-covered Mustafa Hafez school.
The camera then pans to show rubble on the ground next to the complete ruins of a two-story building.
“We were sitting safely, we didn’t see the explosion,” witness Umm Mohammed later told Reuters news agency.
“Everyone is gone, they are dead. They are under the rubble.”
Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said in the afternoon that rescue teams had found the bodies of 12 people.
He said the attack targeted the entire campus, where he estimated about 700 displaced people live.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the aircraft carried out “a precision strike on terrorists operating inside a Hamas command and control center” installed inside the school and used to plan and conduct attacks against Hamas and Israeli troops.
“Prior to the attack, numerous measures were taken to minimize the risk of harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the report added.
The IDF accuses Hamas of violating international law by operating in civilian infrastructure and exploiting civilians in Gaza – allegations that Hamas has previously denied.
Earlier this month, the UN Human Rights Office condemned what it called the “increasing frequency” of Israeli airstrikes on schools sheltering displaced people, accusing the IDF of carrying out these strikes “with apparent disregard for the high civilian casualty rate.”
Warning later At least 70 Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on al-Taba’een school in Gaza Cityaccording to the director of a local hospital.
The IDF said the school “was an active military base for Hamas and Islamic Jihad” and confirmed the identities of 31 “terrorists” killed.
The United Nations said at the time that it was the 21st air strike on a school being used as a shelter since July 4 and had killed at least 274 people.
